Heavens! I could have done better than that myself! What on earth did you have in your hand? I don't care what Elwell says—I don't think that's enough; of course we couldn't make it on that hand! It seems a shame to throw points away. I am not angry—do you think I mind a few dollars? it's only so unnecessary! How many hands do we have to play with each partner? I never said I wanted to get rid of you. No, it's not the same thing—I simply asked!"

So the game went on!

Flushed cheeks and glistening eyes were the only indications that much was at stake; social veneer concealed the real anxiety of the players, but a hush of nervous tension pervaded the room. It was a relief when the last hand was concluded. Everyone crowded around the table where the beautiful prizes were displayed and where the scores were read.

"You don't mean to tell me that that girl who came with the Hollingsworths and can't play at all, has first choice!" whispered Mrs. Norman.

"A case of fool's luck, I guess," replied Mrs. Danielson, "let's see what she takes."

"Look! She's going to take that Tiffany glass vase when she might have had that diamond bracelet—probably thinks they are rhinestones!" burst out Elise Thayer.

"Prizes never go to the best players," said Mrs. Cecil Jerome in disgust. "It is never really fair."

Mrs. Cecil Jerome was conceded to be one of the "best players."

After the prizes had been duly admired and the winners congratulated, the throng of exquisitely gowned women flocked about the little gilt tables in the dining-room, chatting eagerly and comparing scores.

"The throng of exquisitely gowned women flocked about the little gilt tables in the dining-room."

Mrs. Christy flitted among her guests with a smile and cordial word for each, but to some favored few she devoted her especial attention. She stopped beside one group in the corner of the dining-room more than once.

"Your dining-room is so attractive, Mrs. Christy," said Mrs. Norman, as her hostess sat down beside her for an instant.

"It is good of you to say so—you do things so exquisitely yourself that I'm quite afraid of you," returned Mrs. Christy with disarming frankness.

She glanced at Miss Thayer, Mrs. Danielson and Mrs. Cecil Jerome, who were also at the table.

"You clever people," she went on, "must be my guides, for New York is rather new to me—we have lived West so much. You are all such authorities on social matters that I shall have to depend on you for many things. You'll help me, won't you?"

What women could resist such delicate flattery?

The four smiled graciously.

"Tell me, Mrs. Danielson," Mrs. Christy continued, "are you going to Newport this summer—or haven't you decided?"

"Oh, we've decided! We've rented our house and we intend to spend the summer in Switzerland and the Tyrol," answered Mrs. Danielson. "What are you going to do, Mrs. Christy?"

"Jack and I expect to take an automobile trip through England and Scotland—if he can get away," returned Mrs. Christy, "and by the way, what do you all do with your houses through the summer months? That is bothering me now! Do you leave your servants in them all summer?"

"Oh, no," exclaimed Mrs. Danielson hastily, "we have had such frightful experiences doing that! One summer we had fine servants and we wanted to hold on to them so we kept them in the house all the time we were gone and we hadn't been back any time at all before they left in a body! So pleasant to feel you'd only been giving a house-party for them!" she concluded sarcastically.

"Why my dear, our servants had a dance in our house!" put in Mrs. Norman.

"I always put a care-taker in ours," said Miss Thayer.

"Don't have